Why is denial of physical pleasure such a good thing? I like to think the best of people, and I'd like to think that there's some rational basis for this idea. But there isn't.

It all springs from the old mind-body problem that's bothered philosphers for centuries. Apparently, the pleasures of the mind are 'good' because they are lasting, and the pleasures of the flesh are 'bad' because they are fleeting. How is that again? I missed something. Yes, maybe a 'fleeting' pleasure is less because it is not permanent, but that doesn't make it 'bad' or 'sinful'. I know that the pleasure I get from eating this nice, rare prime rib is fleeting, and will be gone in minutes. So what? That does not make it bad!

Is sex the be-all and end-all of existence that most teenagers think it is? No, of course it isn't. Maybe if sex wasn't so... ah.... romanticized, I guess, it wouldn't seem so bloody central to life. It's fun, or at least can be. It's pleasurable, or at least can be. It's a goodness between two people who like and respect one another, or at least should be.

What kind of person takes pride in avoiding this intimacy with other human beings? Don't tell me about disease or pregnancy; we all know that reasonable intelligence and foresight deal quite well with these. Get tested. Make them get tested. And use birth control. It is that easy.